Railway cattle-guard.



PATENTBD JUNE 9, 1903. I

F: W. PERKINS.

- RAILWAY CATTLE GUARD.

APPLICATION FILED MAB. 9, 1903.

H0 MODEL amozwkoz 'AAIAIAI IAA u witmeooev I i711,

41M 3% mkw- UNITED STATES" Patented June 9, 1903,

PATENT Orrrcn.

RAlL\ NAY CATTLE-GUARD.

sPEQILFIGATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 730,794, dated June 9,1903. 4

Application filed March 9, 1903. s rial 147,003- (No m d l's T0 allwhom, it may concern:

Be it known thatI, FOSTER W. PERKINS, a citizen of the United States,residingatWood bine, in the county'ot' WVhitley and State of Kentucky,have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Railway Oattle-Guards, of which the following is aspecification. 1

This invention relates to railway cattleguards, and particularly to theclass of such guards having a spring-tread.

The invention consists in a cattle-guard having a series of alternatingparallel rods.

and spiral spring-wires, the latter being expanded by longitudinaladjustment of the rods and to provide adjustable brackets to carry therods and wires.

The invention further consists in a cattleguard having a series of rodsand spiral springs arranged together in sets, an adjustable bracket foreach set, and a clampingplate for the wires carried by each bracket.

The invention still further consists in the novel construction andarrangement of the several parts whereby the tread of the guard is madeflexible vertically and expansible and contractible longitudinally.

In the accompanying drawings, forming part of this application, Figure 1is a plan view of the guard applied to a railway. Fig. 2 is a sideelevation of the guard. Fig. 3 is a detail perspective view of one ofthe brackets. Fig. 4 is a top view of a guard set, showing amodification.

The'same'numeral references denote the same parts throughout the severalviews of the drawings.

The rails 1 and ties 2 are of the usual form, and the guard may span oneor more ties, as desired or as occasion may demand.

The sections or sets constituting the guard all comprising the sameelements constructed suitable lock-nuts 6. The brackets 7 have a holes13, in which the rods 5 are adjustably secured parallel with each other.The top of the flange 12 has notches 14 for the Wires, which arepositioned parallel with the rods,

but on a plane above that of the rods, one wire being placed outside ofthe rods and two wires between the rods. The ends of the wires are fixedagainst the flange 12 and bracket-base 8 by a clamping-plate 15, held bybolts 16, extending through the holes 9 and provided with suitable nuts17.

In assembling the sections or guard sets one section is placed upon theoutside of the rails 1, and two sections or sets are positioned betweenthe rails. The sections or sets may be increased in number and thenumber of wires varied as desired or as occasion may demand.

Referring to the modification shown in Fig. 4, the coils 18 arepositioned at various points in the wires out of the center thereof.

It is obvious that the brackets can be readily adjusted on the ties,that the wires may be adjusted by the rod lock-nuts, and that one ormore of the wires may be repaired, removed, or replaced withoutdisturbing the remaining wires.

It will be seen that the wires stand sufficiently above the rods topermit contact therewith by an animal treading on the guard, that suchtread will depress the wires and expand the coils without catching thefoot or feet of the animal, that the tendency of coil to re tract thewire will impart the same to the foot of the animal and cause an upwardor outward pressure on the foot, and that the coils being remotefromends of the tread-wires there is no liability of the foot beingcaught in the coils. V

The device may be set up in sections for convenience in packing,storing, and transportation or the section parts may be packed separatefor shipping. In either case the parts arranged and applied in sectionsafford an expeditious means of assembling the sections to form a simpleand effective cattleguard.

ries of rods provided withlock-nuts and adjustable in the brackets tovary the tension of the wires.

3. In a railway cattle-guard, the combination, with a series of bracketsadjustably secured on the cross-ties, of a series of rods and s pring-wires adj ustably carried by the brackets in sections, and lock-nutsto efiect the adjustment of the rods and brackets relative to each otherand to the ties.

4. In a railway cattle-guard, the combination, with a series of bracketsadj ustably secured on the cross-ties, of a series of rods andspring-wires adj ustably carried by the brack ets, lock-nuts to effectthe adjustment of the rods and brackets relative to each other and tothe ties, and plates for clamping the wire ends to the brackets.

5. .In a railway cattle-guard, the combination, with a series of flangedbrackets adjustably secured to the rail-ties, a set of alternatingparallel rods and spring-wires arranged wit-h the wires out of the planeof the rods, plates to clamp the wires over the bracketflange, andlock-nuts to effect adjustment of the rods in said flange and vary thetension of the wires.

In witness whereof .I hereunto set my hand in the presence of twowitnesses.

FOSTER W. PERKINS.

Witnesses:

R. M. SULLIVAN, A. S. WILDER.

